RWBY Memory
by Voideddesert7
Summary: AU; set many years after Ruby's first day at Beacon, Ruby is now the greatest weaponsmith in the land, renowned for her gifts with metals and dust. However, one certain customer reminds her of a dark memory, one that nearly destroyed her life. This is a setup for my next story series, RWBY; Destiny Reclaimed. Rated T for very bloody battle scene.


**If I said I was sorry for not posting anything in months, would you guys believe me? Well I am. And I'm back, baby! I will be trying to make new fanfics much more often, but I'll still take some time to make them good. Anyways, here's a one-shot that works as a setup for my next big story, which I have no title for yet. I do not own RWBY, but Adrian, and the events in this story were all of my creation. Enjoy.**

Ruby Rose smiled as she hammered the blade of her newest weapon into shape. Today was Yang's birthday, and Ruby was going to go bring her sister flowers after work. Breaking through the dull thumping of hammer upon steel came a loud ringing sound, Ruby's shop door. Ruby set down her half-finished blade, and poked her head out of the small window leading to the main part of her shop. "I'll be with you in a moment!" As quick as she could, Ruby cleaned up her workstation, and changed out of her oil-stained work apron.

Inside the shop, admiring a firesword in its glass case, was a young boy. He appeared to be in his late teenage years, and was wearing a black hood over his head. Over his hoodie was a light coat of well polished silver armor, similar to the armor once worn by Ruby's friend Jaune.

Ruby walked up to the strange boy. "Hello, and welcome to Its Also A Gun, the best weapon shop this side of Vale. Can I help you?"

The mysterious boy turned to Ruby. His golden eyes seemed very familiar to Ruby. "Yes, actually," the boy replied in a calm voice. "My name is Adrian, and I hear that you are the best weapons designer in Vale."

Ruby blushed; she took a lot of pride in her skills. "Well, I wouldn't say the best, maybe like, fourth. I hear that Boromir guy is very good… Okay, fine. Is there something particular you're looking for?"

"Well, no," Said Adrian. "You see, two weeks ago, over at beacon, my team ran into some trouble during our midterm. We were supposed to kill a King Taijitu, and take venom from it back to Professor Port. We experienced some complications. During the fight, my katana snapped in half, and we nearly lost the fight. If headmaster Arc never showed up, we would have died for sure." Ruby cringed. Her weapon was also destroyed in a battle with a Grimm. "I want to change up my fighting style, hopefully to something less fragile. Do you have any basic weapons I could try out?"

"Why yes I do!" Ruby exclaimed. "Right this way!" She led Adrian into her testing room, a spacious room, with various human and Grimm sized dummies. On one wall, there hung a wide assortment of beautifully crafted steel weapons, ready to be tried out. "You can try any of these basic weapons here. If you find a basic design that suits you, I'll be in the workshop, over there." Ruby returned to the workshop, and resumed the forging of her weapon. About fifty minutes later, Adrian came into the workshop, drenched in sweat, holding a pair of metal claws.

"I think. I think these will do." He said, gasping for breath. He set the claws down on a clear part of the worktable, while Ruby rolled out some drafting paper to begin the design process.

"Okay, now, is there anything extra you want to add? Everything is better with a gun."

Adrian smiled, and said, "I may have a few ideas." For several hours, the two sat there, drawing out designs for hours.

Adrian looked up at the clock, noting the hour. "It appears to be getting late. I would like to thank you for your help, Miss Rose." Adrian said, as he rose from the workbench.

"No problem, friend," Ruby replied. "Come back in the afternoon tomorrow, and we can put the finishing touches on your weapon."

"Yes ma'am." Throughout the rest of the night, Ruby worked tirelessly on Adrian's order. Adrian's story reminded Ruby of her own tragic event, something which she never wanted to happen to anybody ever again. Even though it had been a great many years, Ruby could still remember that horrible day.

_It was a pleasant day in the Forever Fall woods. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, And Yang were all walking together, out there for another school assignment. Their job was to practice their battle techniques against any Grimm that they found, and to return to the Airship by dusk. _

_"Hey, Blake," Yang asked, "How do you think Jaune's team is doing?" Suddenly, the group heard a loud scream. _

_"I think they might be in trouble." Blake sarcastically replied. The group ran towards the source of the scream, ready to save their friends. Using her semblance, Ruby reached the clearing first. _

_Inside the clearing, Jaune, and the rest of team JNPR were cornered by a large group of Grimm. The loud shriek no doubt came from Nora, who was lying prone on the ground, blood flowing from a slash on her forehead. Jaune was busy using his healing aura to save Nora, while Lie Ren and Pyrrha unsuccessfully tried to hold off the Grimm. _

_Ruby fearlessly jumped into the fray, using the recoil from her Crescent Rose to rise above the Grimm horde. By the time the rest of team RWBY had arrived, the number of Grimm had gone down by half, thanks to their spunky leader. For a moment, it seemed as if the two teams would make it out alive. That's when it happened. While battling an Alpha Beowulf, some cruel form of fate allowed the beast to land a hit directly on the weakest point of her scythes blade, shattering the Crescent Rose. Shocked, Ruby could do nothing to block the clawed arms next strike, which tore through her skin, and ripped out a good portion of her chest. By sheer luck, most of her vital organs were left unscathed. _

_Yang turned, and time seemed to slow down for her. She watched as the creature threw Ruby's limp form across the field. Her vision turned red, and the only thing she could think of was killing that beast. She waited until Jaune ran over to Ruby, sheltering her with his aura, then called for everybody else to activate theirs. She subsequently called upon her most powerful ability, Endgame. A bright, burning light swept through the vicinity, disintegrating every living thing within a mile radius. Because they had their auras active, the others survived. As soon as her vision returned, Ruby watched the charred husk of her sister fall to the ground, dead. Ruby screamed for her sister, and struggled over to her prone form. The effort, however, caused Ruby to black out._

_Two weeks later, there was a funeral service held for Yang Xiao Long. Team JNPR, as well as Velvet's team, team CDNL, and the remainder of team RWBY showed up for the service. Ruby was still confined to a wheelchair, and had two guards with her, as ever since waking up in the hospital room, Ruby had tried three times to take her own life. Not only had the Beowulf's attack done irreparable damage to Ruby, her sister, her best friend in the whole world, was dead. The only thing keeping Ruby from falling into a deep depression was the support of her friends, and Professor Ozpin. Eventually, Ruby was discharged from the hospital; however, she could no longer live her dream as a huntress._

Ruby looked up at her clock, and threw down the half-finished claw. "Oh no! Yang!" As fast as she could, Ruby cleaned herself up, and limped into her car. The bouquet of daffodils was already sitting in the passenger's seat. Ruby made her way to the Cliffside altar, where her sisters grave lay next to her mothers. Ruby set the bouquet of flowers down on top of her sisters tomb, and whispered, "Happy Birthday, sis." Tears were rolling down her face, and she forced herself back to the car. She had work to do.

_After their graduation, the last two members of team RWBY parted ways. Weiss took over the Schnee dust company, appointing her boyfriend, Sun, as her VP. Blake went off to create her own Faunus rights organization, created to stop the White Fang, and bring peace between the two species. Ruby, no longer able to fight, opened her own weapons shop, a place where she could still help others fight. She kept it up for eighteen years, always remembering. _

The next evening, Adrian returned. Ruby handed him the two claws, smiling at her work. "Now, how about color? You should make them match your armor."

"Actually, I have something else in mind. Do you have any paints?" Ruby handed him her weapons painting materials, and allowed him to put the finishing touches on his weapons. When he was done, she looked at them.

"Wait, are those?"

"Yes. These are the symbols for the original, and new White Fang. I want these claws to represent the good and evil in the world, and how they intertwine. Now, how many lien do I owe you?"

"Ruby thought for a moment, and then turned to Adrian. "None. I want you to take them. Oh, and one last thing." Ruby smiled, as she realized something.

"Yes?"

"Tell your mother I said hi." Ruby chuckled, as she pushed back Adrian's hood. Perched on top of his messy, black hair was a pair of cat ears.

**Okay, so, the bad White Fang is still around at this point, war is brewing again, and Adrian is destined to stop it. Once I finish Echo 4-1-9 I shall begin Adrian's Story! Also, for that, I will need a female OC, and a weapon for her. Please give me some ideas! She can be either human or Faunus. Until next time, adios, amigos!**


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